Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 News

Mere moments before release, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been delayed by the occult implosion of developers The Chinese Room, seemingly triggered by a last-ditch request from Paradox Interactive to add a microtransaction system and start charging for every bitten neck.

There is nothing left of The Chinese Room now. Nothing but a huge bubble of Cromwell invocations and bisexual lighting, right in the middle of Portsmouth. Occasionally, a level designer erupts from the congealing iridescent surface, begging to be allowed to make Dear Esther 2 instead, only to be dragged back into the orb by a thousand, vermillion-painted fingers.

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Let's get this over with early: Bloodlines 2 probably should not have been called Bloodlines 2. Shared setting and a couple brief, questionable cameos (plus one utterly rubbish bit of cosmetic DLC) aside, there is little tying this game to Troika's original janky cult hit FPS/RPG hybrid. This is not an RPG with deep mechanics, a wide variety of character builds or dialogue that reacts to mechanical choices. If that is what you need out of a game bearing this most hallowed of names, then you will be disappointed and frustrated.

But if you are willing to lay decades of dreams to rest and approach it purely on its own terms, you might find an entertaining if flawed romp through the World Of Darkness. A brawl-heavy, linear action game punctuated with Telltale-esque reactive dialogue and held together by a surprisingly compelling, century-spanning undead detective mystery.

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"So weary is the wanderer that treads upon the fertile soil." In many ways, this single echoey line embodies Bloodlines 2. Having gone through multiple teams and survived one of the most turbulent development cycles of all time, The Chinese Room's take on the World of Darkness is finally here - it's in my Steam library, which I'm still pinching myself over, but it has so much to live up to.

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RELATED LINKS:

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 missions list - all main and side quests

Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 guides, gameplay, and more

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 system requirements

Уже 21 октября на ПК, Xbox Series X|S и PlayStation 5 состоится релиз Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2. Однако с первыми оценками надежды фанатов на достойный сиквел рухнули.

Первые впечатления от Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 у меня были весьма позитивные. В игре чувствовался потенциал, и я подумал, что даже если разработчики отойдут в сторону от концепции культовой первой части, мы получим нечто вроде "вампирской Deus Ex" — с заранее заготовленным персонажем, геймплеем с вариативностью в прохождении и системой диалогов с последствиями. По крайней мере, подобное декларировалось самими авторами в сопроводительных материалах. Я с нетерпением ждал возможности изучить полную версию, и после прохождения могу сказать, что игра получилась совсем другой.